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Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Dream Girl: Shailene Woodley Talks About Dreaming

It comes as no surprise that Shailene Woodley
is a big dreamer. In just a few short years, she has gone from playing a
teen mom on The Secret Life of the American Teenager to receiving a
Golden Globe nomination and working with actors like Kate Winslet, with
whom she stars in this month's sci-fi epic Divergent,
which comes out March 21. Still, dreams remain an obsession for
Woodley, who occasionally records her own and has even experimented with
lucid dreaming. Here, she gives us a peek inside her very active REM
cycle.

Harpers Bazaar: I've always been interested in dreams. I love the mystery of
them—there are so many philosophies about what they mean, where they
stem from, and why we have them. We haven't been able to completely
prove any of our assumptions regarding dreams, and that fascinates me.

When I was younger, I had recurring dreams a lot. As a 22-year-old woman, I still cannot watch Jurassic Park
because when I first saw it as a four- or five-year-old, it gave me
nightmares. I will never forget the visual: a giant T. Rex eyeball in
the window of my second-story bedroom, like it was always watching me.

In another recurring dream, my dad and I were on a pirate ship,
winding through treacherous channels, tending to hundreds of sails in
high-powered winds, and floating next to cliffs that could have been
right out of The Princess Bride. We were always running away
from something, though I don't recall what. I remember feeling
incredibly adrenalized when I dreamed about the ship.

There is an herb called mugwort that I've tried, which is supposed to
help enhance dreams. You can burn a little before bed or sleep on a
mugwort pillow. It's found in all parts of America, East Coast and
West—anytime you see weeds growing through cracks in a parking lot,
there's probably mugwort. You can harvest it yourself, dry it, bundle
it, and burn it like sage.

Specifically, mugwort is associated with lucid dreaming, which I've
experienced a few times. I'm no expert, but when I've tried it, I've
used a technique where you fall asleep while knocking on a wall.
Something about that keeps your brain awake while your body goes to
sleep, inducing that great moment when you realize, Wow, I'm conscious
of the fact that I'm dreaming.

I've also had dreams that have brought increased clarity to a
situation. Recently I dreamed about somebody I'd just met and woke up
with an intense sense of familiarity and comfort toward her. I felt I
knew her so well even though we had met only once. Other dreams revealed
to me that I should be more wary of certain people I trusted—and
generally they have been correct, like a premonition.

Now I'll occasionally have the same dream two or three nights in a
row, and then it'll disappear. But even in moments of tranquillity, my
mind's favorite hobby is visualizing epic adventures for the present and
future. Lately my most vivid, clear, and colorful dreams have been the
ones I've had during catnaps, when I doze off on an airplane for an hour
or in a car for 20 minutes. My mind is in hyperactive mode. "Fit
everything in—you've got only 20 minutes!" it tells me. And the sparks
just start flying. —Shailene Woodley

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